Rumors
by Cabitha
Summary: Years of scheming have lost Jerome the trust of his classmates. And have made him powerful enemies, but now that he wants to rectify his mistakes and earn his crush, will his bullies let up? Or will the rumors of his weakness be his ultimate downfall? R&R, Multichapter, Drama, Friendship
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned HOA, But then I would be in prison for holding Natalia Ramos hostage, and stopping her from going to college.**

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Another blow struck Jerome's tender arms. Already mottled with purpled bruises, the blow pressed another wound. Jerome knew that it would hurt that much more in the morning. But this was normal. This happened almost every month, Mick and his cronies were somewhat unaware of their power. And how to use it. Perhaps if Jerome dared to cry, or to show his wounds to his attackers, they may have stopped sooner. But this was _Jerome_, he probably could have fought Mick alone, but now when he was with Miles and Ian, Jerome knew his limits. He simply took the pain, he welcomed it like the old friend that it was to him.

That was his life. As a known con and schemer of many years, he had thought nothing of scamming Miles and Mick. But after losing 100 pounds in a cleverly rigged bet, Mick and Miles sought their revenge constantly. To the point that they had almost completely forgotten the reason they hated Jerome, and he had paid back almost double his debt. However, Jerome could never tell a soul, because if any of his other victims knew of a weakness, his exploits would be his undoing, and his life would spiral into hell. Though Jerome now tried to minimize the scams and focus on real, honest to goodness pranks. Harmless and not enemy-making. He still had little to no trust from his ex-victims and only one true friend, a bully that never let him forget his mistakes and a crush on a girl who had a crush on his enemy.

Jerome did not let on at dinner, he did not let on at bed-time—although Alfie knew—he did not let on at the school psychiatrist who he was required to see once a month, with everyone else from Anubis house (because of the events of last year). He didn't tell, ever. He never allowed anyone into his personal business, but this was Anubis house. Rumors spread.

Especially when they're as juicy as Jerome's.

But don't worry, sometimes rumors help more than hurt, and sometimes things can work out in ways you don't expect, even if it takes longer than expected, and sometimes it turns out okay. Then again, sometimes it doesn't.

**So, PM me plot ideas! DO NOT leave them in a review, because then if I do use your idea, it spoils it for everyone. I want this to be longer, so… read, review, PM! I'll try to update quickly. Gah, this seems so short on fanfiction.**


	2. Chocolate And Raining Goop

**Disclaimer: I will take over the world someday, and then I will own HOA, but that day is not today.**

Chocolate is key; this is what Mara has figured out. There are certain kinds of chocolate for every situation, and what she needed right now was dark chocolate, not for her though. Mara was known as a sort of chocolate fairy, whenever it seemed like you needed chocolate, Mara would magically appear with the deliciousness in hand. It was somewhat of a backhanded good deed, because if you were lucky enough to get chocolate from Mara, you know you look awful.

Like I said, Mara needed dark chocolate, because once every full moon, he would come in the house with a look like he was a puppy that had been left in the street. She didn't know why, but he did. And she was always ready. She used to wait in his room, ready, with the bitter chips in her palm, but that seemed kind of stalker-ish after a while.

Mara ran into the kitchen, rummaging through the sweets box—which only she had the key too—until she found the right chocolate…hmm cocoa, or chips? The eternal question. Mara decided on hot cocoa, and waited anxiously for the milk to heat, she was momentarily distracted by a GORGEOUS blonde who walked coolly through the kitchen. He flashed a little grin her way, and walked on to make out with another blonde bombshell.

Mara realized the kettle was screaming bloody murder and she couldn't quite figure out how long she had been standing and staring at Mick. She realized that Jerome was probably already in his room and really, that she was just late. She rushed up to his room and knocked softly on the door with her foot, there was a shuffling and the door opened.

He stood there with his hair messed up and his expression a mask, he had stayed in his uniform but it was scruffy and mussed. He looked at her for a moment,

"Do you have the chocolate?" She held up the mugs in a victorious pose, and just like that, his face lit up.

"Always!" she said perkily, happy that the cocoa had cheered him up—because of course _that's_ why he was happier—and she entered his room.

They sat on his bed and sipped cocoa in companionable silence, silence that, of course someone had to break.

"So chocolate fairy, why so late?" He waggled his eyebrows in mock disapproval.

"Well… I was making the chocolate and then Mick walked by and I-I, um." She trailed off.

"And you got lost in his dazzling smile? His gray eyes? His luscious blonde hair?" Jerome didn't know how he was making a joke out of this. But most of the girls at The Academy didn't know what a player Mick was, and almost no one knew how much of a bully, he was good at hiding who he was, Jerome gave him credit for that.

"No…" She trailed off once more; they looked at each other for a moment and then broke out in peals of laughter.

* * *

So Jerome knew for certain now, Mick had his girl, and Jerome could do nothing about it. Mara was just wrapped around his little finger. Jerome, who every time Mara came around with the scrumptious chocolate, he thought he had a new ally, and every time, bitter disappointment.

Mara left later on and Jerome leaned against the wall, then he removed his shirt to address his throbbing bruises. Alfie came in later to help, as he did often. He knew not to ask why Jerome was hurt, he knew not to ask why Jerome didn't fight back, and the answer was always the same. Every time.

Jerome and Alfie had planned a general prank for the next day—a general prank was what they called a prank that wasn't directed at any specific person—this one was a rigged dish, that would shoot goop at the ceiling and shower down on anyone sitting at the table. They were very excited.

Every one had gathered at the table for breakfast, and Jerome stole Mara's regular seat and forced her to sit where he normally would, which he had carefully calculated would receive the least slime.

"So Mara, how come you never bring me coco?" Mick asked accusingly. Mara blushed, it was true, even in Mick's darkest hours, she was too shy to do any thing but slide a bar of white chocolate under the door. Mara detested white chocolate, but it was perfect for Mick.

"I give you bars of chocolate when you need it…" Mick rolled his eyes in a mean, but seductive manner.

"Next time… You can _**bring**_ me the chocolate, and we can '_talk'._" Mara didn't see the emphasis on talk for what it was, and nodded.

" Alright-y children," Jerome exclaimed, making everybody jump, "Time for pancakes!" Trudy walked out of the kitchen and placed the ornate silver plated dish on the table and removed the lid. Jerome and Alfie ducked. The rest of the table, including Trudy, and Victor—who was on his way to the bathroom-got soaked. Except for Mara, just like Jerome had planned. Everyone was pretty upset, though Nina and Patricia laughed a bit, Mick was furious and stalked over to Jerome, he clapped him on the shoulder in a way that could have been friendly if it wasn't for the extremely visible wincing on Jerome's behalf.

Mara noticed. So did Joy, leader of the schools' gossip column in the Jackal.

**Ahaha! Look it's so long! YAYA! So thanks for the reviews and plot Ideas (That you PM-ed me, Thanks!) special thanks to Sibuna Kitten, I will be sure too do that in later chapters, but it needs particular build-up. Be patient. I've always thought I should do this at some point…**

**FF Abreviations that newbies may not understand**

**AU=Alternate Universe**

**OC=Original Character**

**OOC=Out Of Character**

**Lemon= Explicit MA content**

**Smut= Multiple Lemon stories**

**Virtual Cookies= Imaginary Prize**

**A/N= Author Note**

**Chappie=Chapter**

**Cliffy=Cliff Hanger**

**OneShot=One Chapter (Goes 1shot 2shot 3shot, Multichapter)**

**FF= Fanfiction, Fanfic**

**PM me any more you think of!**


	3. Articles and Oil Paintings

**Disclaimer: Tonight I am so bored that I am rearranging my room, if I owned this show, that would mean that I had a life. I have no life, therefore I don't own this show.**

Joy was the editor for the Jackal ever since Mara nearly got expelled, and she took her responsibilities very seriously. She knew that she had certain _feelings_ about a scoop when it was about to come her way, one of the reasons why she was sure she would be a better editor than Mara. All that morning she had had this feeling and so she was on the look out for a story all through breakfast, and when she saw Jerome wince like that, she knew.

She followed Jerome surreptitiously all day, she felt like a ninja, which was part of the reason that she kept at it for so long even with no new info, it was good—for her—that she did though, because when Jerome was in art class, he needed to roll up his sleeves to work on his oil painting. She snapped a picture as quickly as possible. She smiled at the confused teacher.

Later in the day, Mick and Jerome ran into each other and Joy again captured the look of hatred between the two. She began to create a scenario in her mind, imagining whatever headline would be worse. It wasn't going to be believed, she knew that she had a reputation of semi-reliable gossip, it may create rumors, but not solid belief, rumors wouldn't hurt Jerome, he had been the subject of many before.

* * *

Jerome, for his part was completely unaware of Joy's spying and was trying as hard as he could to not provoke Mick, as he knew that he was on edge from this mornings prank. He thought instead of the past, back when Mick and he were almost…friends? Close enough that Mick would aid him in his scams—this was before Alfie—and they would laugh and smile at supper together. Jerome recalled a particular moment when they were in middle-school of them running as far as possible to avoid Mr. Sweet (whom they had just ripped off for around 150 pounds) and they had run and run until their lungs felt like they would give out. Then they laughed for near a half hour about "_the look on his face_!"

Things were definitely different now, Jerome wondered if Mick remembered anything from that time. Jerome knew that Mick thought that Jerome was devil spawn, but he knew also that Mick wasn't an evil person, Mean, yes. Abusive yes. A player, yes. But he wasn't consciously trying to "kill" Jerome.

Jerome was consciously trying to avoid Mara that day, he had known that she fancied Mick, but he hadn't known that she fancied him so much that she would let it interfere with her chocolate duties. He worked instead on his masterpiece in art class. Jerome was a very talented artist, and he had decided back in his first year that he would paint a picture of all the Anubis House residents in oil on canvas, the problem was that the house occupants kept _growing,_ adding Nina in next to Fabian was only tolerable because Fabian was on the end of the picture. Adding Eddie next to Patricia was torture. The painting had been Jerome's sole project in art for the past three months, it was their Junior year and he wanted to get it done before senior so that he could take a break. So he toiled.

On the way to Math class Mick and Jerome bumped into each other in the hallway, Jerome tried to mask his fearful expression, but what did show through was the hatred of the situation, and Mick's face was livid, but Jerome scurried away as fast as he could too his math class, as his teacher, Mr. Roberts, was rather testy about tardiness.

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Mara felt as though nothing was happening, all in all it was a rather boring day in her opinion, Jerome and Alfie punked the house in the morning, as they did nearly once a week. Jerome worked on his oil painting all through art class, as per usual. The only thing that did break the normalcy of that day was the fact that it seemed as if everyone had been ignoring her; "the gang" as they were called by any that were not in their exclusive group, had become kinder and less stressed after the party, and all her friends had begun to talk to her again. But today, they all seemed a little on edge, and Jerome seemed to be ignoring her completely…

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The SIBUNA'S were tense, Mara was actually right on that account. Nina and Eddie swore that they had seen Senkhara, and Victor looked a bit too energetic for his age. The SIBUNA group was now made up of; Eddie, Nina, Patricia, Alfie, Fabian, and Amber. They had decided not to include Joy, though Nina and her were on good terms now, things were still a little tense where Fabian was involved. They worried in whispers, and hid their hunches in their heads, as this was no laughing matter.

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At the end of the day, when they all gathered together for supper all was silent. Everyone had their own worries and their own problems to attend too. Joy was forming her article in her head, Jerome was contemplating his painting as well as the Mick issue, Mara was contemplating the French assignment and why everyone was ignoring her, the SIBUNA's were worrying about SIBUNA issues, and Mick was thinking about his food, as always.

Joy's brain squirmed with the possibilities, she began to think about the facts of the matter:

1. Mick and Jerome were involved in some violent activities

2. Jerome was bruised, Mick was probably bruised as well

3. Mick and Jerome hated each other

4. Everybody loves Mick

5. Everybody hates Jerome

The article began to take shape in her mind, this would be the talk of the school…

**Hello! I know that it took me longer to update than usual but you're going to be even more mad at me after you hear this… I am going on vacation and will not be updating this for at least three weeks… I'm really sorry! That's why this chapter took so long actually, because I wanted to give you guys a really big chapter to contemplate over this "hiatus" of updates yet as always, what seemed so long on word seems so short of , I sincerely apologize. Now on to more important matters, keep PM-ing me ideas and keep reviewing!**

**FF Abbreviations That Newbies May Not Know, Or Fully Understand, Continued:**

**Drabble=Sappy, Fluffy oneshot with little to no dialogue or plot.**

**Fluffy= Romantic Cuteness**

**Flame=Pointless and unconstructive criticism (Flamer=Hater)**

**R+R= Read and Review, (Rest and Relaxation)**


	4. All To Hell

**Disclaimer: This is a chapter in my fan-fiction, and a very short one at that, I don't own this show…**

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**This Week In The Jackal Gossip Column!**

Jerome Clark, well known by the junior class as a scheming, conniving conman, but a new piece of information that your scene queen has uncovered is something that even she did not expect! Who knew that Jerome could sink so low as to fight Mick! A con and a BULLY! Bet you weren't expecting that! Still don't believe me? Check out these pics!

Don't you see the pure hatred? Or is that just me?

We all know that our lovable jock friend Mick is WAY stronger than scrawny little Jerome! So where do you think these bruises came from…

I know what you're all thinking, another crazy gossip column that doesn't really tell the truth, but think about it! Is there any proof that Jerome didn't do it? Isn't this right up our prankster's ally? Just think about it…

She ended with her signature phrase, how could Jerome do something like that? I can't believe I brought him chocolate after the fight! I can't believe this, I just can't!

Jerome's astonishingly blue eyes filled with hatred and tears, "Damn, damn it all to hell!" He threw the newspaper on the ground and ran, practically screaming " Damn it all to bloody hell!"

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**Little (tiny) filler chapter, okay, so this is kind of awkward to admit, but I got the dates mixed up for my vacation, I will be gone on the 21 for around 6 days and three weeks later on in the summer… Sorry for the mix up! Also wanted to say to some reviewers whose names I am too lazy to recall,**

**In this story, I don't mean for Joy to be at all Rhymes with witchy! She's making rash judgments, but we all do that! The only person on this ff who I made evil was Mick, and he is completely OOC, in this! I know that I am using a lot of exclamation points in this but it doesn't mean I am yelling or at all mad at you, I actually thought your comment was really funny but this is just a point I am trying to get across…**

**So yeah, review…**


	5. Memories and Budding Relationships

**Disclaimer: no, just no...**

Jerome ran, he ran and ran as far as he possibly could. It was so, so wrong! How could she be so absolutely wrong! How could they think that he would ever, ever bully Mick! He collapsed on the ground in despair, and remembered, he remembered with sickening clarity:

* * *

_He and Poppy were walking back to school (another school, different than the one they were at now) Poppy was talking about a scam she had pulled, and Jerome was laughing about the stupidity of the world. They had to cross the street, Jerome had crossed ahead of Poppy and was motioning urgently for her to follow him._

_Poppy began to hurry across the street, but a rather short blonde boy stopped her halfway through the street, just then a speeding black Chevvy convertible zoomed by just inches ahead of her. Jerome knew that if the boy (Mick) hadn't stopped her, she would've died._

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It may seem small, and not that important, but Poppy was Jerome's life. With a detached mother and missing father, the siblings clung to each other as a lifeline. So when he recognized Mick at is new school the next year, he tried to become friends, and when he began to be bullied by Mick, he reminded himself that he owed him so much more than money. But he had paid so much! He had gone through so much for Mick. And he always wondered when he would break, when it would go too far. He didn't know, but he did know that soon Mick would do something completely out of line, and then Jerome would have to pay back a different type of debt.

* * *

Mara was having a bit of a crisis of conscience herself, Mick had kissed her, yeah you heard me, KISSED her! He said that he loved her, he said that she was one of the most beautiful girl had ever met, and then he kissed her. But he was dating Amber, who she had just become friends with again, and now she really was stealing her boyfriend! Not to mention what she should do about Jerome, he had run past her screaming to the world, "Damn it all to hell!" and that lead her to believe that there was more to this story than the gossip column was letting on. She was about to run after him, but then Mick came by and she got a little bit…distracted.

Mara didn't know what to do, she knew that if she accepted the date with Mick, so many problems would arise, and it would pretty much say to Jerome "I chose him over you." And she didn't know if that was true, but she really wanted to take the offer, when else would she get a chance to date one of the hottest boys in school! So she took the opportunity.

But Mick was busy during all these other character revelations, making out with Callie Woods.

**Tada, new chapter! it is so short! ah well, R&R!**


	6. Backwards

**Disclaimer: I don't own HOA, if I did Miranda Cosgrove would die in the first episode of the third season. Silly Miranda!**

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Mara wasn't exactly socially capable, but she wasn't stupid. She didn't expect Mick to pick her up, so she didn't wait. She navigated through the British town of Limpette with ease, having lived there for her entire high school life. She arrived at DiNozzo's dining somewhat nervously. DiNozzo's was a classy place, walls were deep red and the hazy, stuffy air was full of the omnipresent stink of perfume. It wasn't her type of place, clearly.

But it was where Mick had told her to meet him. Mara assumed that this was the kind of place where you made a reservation, so she entered the _fine_ establishment and told the lady at the desk: "Mick Campbell" the lady nodded looked through her little book, and shook her head pityingly at her,

"Sorry sweetheart…" Mara nodded sadly. She should have expected this, she really should have. Why would he date her when he had _Amber_: magazine gorgeous, blonde bombshell Amber? Why would he even invite her anyway? Why stand her up? Was it just a cruel joke? Let's all pick on Mara, the nerdy girl with no friends anymore! Well, one friend, and she didn't even know if he was who she thought he was anymore. God this was an awful day.

She moped home in the windy air. So her hair was stuck in what seemed to be a permanent rats nest. She rushed up the stairs, entering her room and slamming the door. She sat on her bed with red eyes but no tears. She didn't cry, she wouldn't cry about a boy like Mick. But she felt like a fool in her fancy clothes so she changed into a ratty gray tank and some really old sweat pants. She needed something to do with her hands, so she brushed her hair a bit and put it in a messy half-bun on the top of her head. She scrubbed her face clean of make-up, lay in her bed and covered her eyes with her hands. She started to wonder why she was upset, she didn't need a boyfriend, she didn't want to steal Mick from Amber, she just had a tiny crush on him for a while.

* * *

Jerome knew what had happened, he had seen Mick ask Mara out, he had seen Mick and Ella Mae flirting in the hallway all the time that Mara had been at DiNozzo's, He had seen her run up the stairs. But most importantly he knew exactly what to do about it all. He took out the bobby pin in his pocket and picked the lock on her chocolate box. Stealing the dark chocolate chips from the tin case, he reflected that this wasn't exactly the right way to do this, but there wasn't really a plausible better idea. So he cut open the bag and ran to her room. He knocked softly, and waited patiently. She opened the door and stared,

"What do you want?" She questioned rather rudely.

"Well…" he held the bag up sheepishly, "I just thought you might need some…" He trailed off and bit his lip, " Well, you always bring us some and…" He took a deep breath " Do you want the chocolate or not?"

Her eyes and voice took on a surprised to tone as she nodded and said: "umm, come on in…" She couldn't identify what she felt at that moment, and neither can I, really. It was the joy that others got from her chocolate, paired with the confusion of having a person you don't really understand do something that you don't really understand. Joyful confusion.

He entered slowly, carefully sitting on her patterned duvet. He motioned for her to join him and opened the plastic bag.

"Where were you supposed to go anyway?" he asked

"DiNozzo's," She replied, Jerome raised his eyebrows.

"Too posh for the first date." Mara laughed, "Like there would have been a second one."

Jerome looked surprised, "I thought you liked him?"

"I did, but it wasn't, I mean it isn't, I… urgh." Jerome smiled,

"You liked him but you didn't want to steal him from Amber, who you actually get along with pretty well. You think he's good eye candy but you don't actually get along with him too much."

"Eye candy?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I went through my questioning phase…" Mara looked at him,

"And what was the answer in the end?" he smiled.

"That I'll never know, but until I meet a guy that's my soul-mate, I'm saying straight. Right now the person I like is a girl, but if I fall in love with a dude I'm not exactly gonna say no." She cocked her head.

"I think that's a good philosophy for a teenager, I like that you at least have your love-life figured out."

"But you didn't like him, so why are you so sad?" Jerome asked, reverting to their original topic.

" I didn't expect love, I don't feel bad, I just feel… disrespected."

"I get it, I understand disrespected by Mick, trust me." One thing stood out in that sentence to Mara was "by Mick"

" Jerome, what happened with…" Jerome cut her off,

"Mara trust me, sooner or later it's going to come out, especially after that lovely article that Joy wrote, but I can't betray him like that. Yet." Mara looked confused again,

"Betray? Yet? Jerome what are you talking about, was the article true?"

"No Mara, listen to me, that article was totally backwards, _backwards_." He got up and began to move towards the door. "I hope you enjoyed receiving the chocolate for once." Mara nodded and did something a bit rash for her, she stood up and hugged him, he stiffened and she pulled away and murmured

"I loved it, how did you get the chocolate on such short notice?"

"Oh um, well… bye!" He walked swiftly away.

* * *

**Long A/N (you should read the first part, you don't have to read the second)**

**So, soon I will be gone for the rest of the summer because I am actually going on vacation now! But I don't exactly know when, so I'll update and then I will stop, but never fear, when I get back, I will update again. That's just how it's going to have to work.**

**So, do normal teenagers go through a questioning phase? Because I am right now, and I thought a good way to add to Jerome's character (and figure myself out a bit) would be to make him go through one as well. So yeah, but don't worry, this is a JARA fic all the way.**

**- Cabitha**


	7. Bromance and Stalled Cocoa

**Disclaimer: I own all of this, Studio 100 owns nothing. Oh shoot, I got that backwards.**

Backwards. _Backwards._ Such a simple word, funny how it could turn her life upside down, how it could consume her thoughts. It should be a simple answer, reverse the order of the sentence, Mick bullies Jerome. But it couldn't be that simple… Mick wouldn't… would he? He did stand her up after all, but that was harmless fun. A prank, she was sure, not active bullying, He wasn't that _mean_ was he?

And also, if Mick was hurting Jerome, why not tell? Why didn't he fight back? But Mick wouldn't…Mick couldn't. He must have meant something else. But what else? For someone so smart, she had never felt so dumb. But what she could see was that the gossip column was killing Jerome in it's own way. People were silent when he passed by, people stole his clothes when he was in the gym, replacing them with notes that said things like "It doesn't feel so good huh?" She saw many of Mick's football buddies grabbing Jerome and pulling him away so that they could beat him up somewhere more private. Yet when he came into class with a black eye, people wouldn't pity him. Not the way they did Mick. Trudy wouldn't help treat him, he knew where the first aid kit was, so that wasn't so bad, what topped it off for Mara was when she tried to bring him chocolate but was stopped by Amber,

"Don't Mara, he doesn't deserve it." Mara was irritated, and looked at Alfie, who had followed Amber like a desperate puppy, and shoved the chocolate in his hand,

"Tell him it's from Mara!" and stalked away, but she turned back to look at Amber,

"You know, your boyfriend's no saint either!"

* * *

Jerome hid away in his room, treating the recent black eye that Joy had given him, that's right, Joy. Because even if it was really Michael (It's pronounced Mih-hell) who had hit him, it was Joy's fault. Just like even though Mick bullied him for years, it was really Jerome's fault for ripping him off. Life sucked sometimes.

Alfie came in later and brought Mara's chocolate with him, relating the story with an apologetic tone. He then helped Jerome bandage a cut on his forearm.

"You know the truth, I know the truth, WHY DON'T THEY KNOW THE TRUTH?" Alfie asked in exasperation, "Why do you subject yourself to this sh-?"

"Wow, Alfie watch the language. You know what he did for my sister, I couldn't betray him like that."

"BETRAY HIM! He's betrayed you! You only hang out with me because he did and-"

"What?" Jerome yanked his arm away and grabbed Alfie's shoulder, "Is that what you think?" Alfie nodded dumbly, Jerome slapped him, "You bloody idiot! You're my best mate myonly mate and I wouldn't have it _any other way_. Sorry, I slapped you… That was uncalled for." Alfie looked at him in awe. He put his arm around Jerome's shoulders and Jerome winced.

"Jerome, tell me the truth, how bad has this gotten?" Jerome shrugged a bit, and clenched his jaw in pain. Alfie sent him a look.

"I'm fine Alfie, really it's not that bad." Jerome lied through his teeth.

"Really?" He clapped him on the shoulder and Jerome cried out in pain, Alfie cocked his head.

Jerome removed his shirt to reveal purple and blue abs. A few cuts ran up and down his arm. But perhaps most disturbing were the nail marks on his shoulder from where people had grabbed him in "companionship", impressions that had broken the skin, creating crescent-moon shaped scabs.

Alfie froze. "Jerome, you have to tell someone. You can't go on like this." Jerome shook his head vehemently.

"I swear to god, Alfie if you tell anyone…" Alfie nodded, but a new voice entered the conversation,

"He doesn't have too."

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**I was going to make this super long because I'm leaving soon. But I just had to cut it off there. It was one of the few times in my FF career when I had an opportunity for a sort of cliffy. Anyway…Who do you think it is? Leave it in a review, I haven't had a review in a really long time. I know that it takes me a long time to update, but it can't be helped, please Review, please?**

**-Cabitha**

**P.S. I will update again before I leave.**

**P.P.S. I love the british slang word "bloody", I use it a lot, I understand if it seems weird.**


	8. Amber, Vermeer and JMW Turner

**So, I AM BACK! I'm going to try to update as much as possible before school starts. So I was impressed and disappointed. One person (JKT) guessed correctly as too who the mystery person was. I was very impressed with your guessing skill! But I thought it was so unexpected! Darn. Oh well, I don't actually have a prize for this other than a shout-out to JustKeepTyping. Go you! So here's your new chapter! Ummm review?**

**Disclaimer: Life sucks sometimes, I don't own a painting by Vermeer, or J.M.W. Turner and I don't own this show. Yep, Life definitely sucks sometimes**

Amber strode confidently into the room, flipping her hair in a practiced manner, rich brown eyes boring into Jerome's icy blue ones.

"Did my boyfriend do this to you?" She asked quietly. Jerome gave a short nod.

"And did my ex-boyfriend ask Mara out while we were still dating, purely to stand her up?" Another nod from Jerome.

"And are you too much of a guy to tell anyone?" He nodded again.

Amber rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way, motioning for Alfie to give her the first aid kit. She took out some disinfectant spray and began to treat the cuts on Jerome's shoulders. Then she expertly began to bandage them. Alfie looked at her questioningly.

"I took a babysitting class." Amber answered shortly.

* * *

The next day:

Another art class. But Jerome had tired of his Anubis oil painting. He looked around at people painting, drawing, sculpting, _copying_. All around him he saw people thinking that inspired by Vermeer meant imitating him. That no one would notice that someone had already done a painting of water-lillies. Jerome looked around and was sickened by the abundance of talent and the lack of originality. The teacher had announced earlier that there was to be an art competition for the best painting inspired by a different painting or specific artist.

Jerome didn't believe in competitive art. It destroyed the purpose in his mind. But he did believe in free painting periods for the rest of the month. He took a picture done by J.M.W. Turner, one of his favorite artists and looked at the bright, somewhat happy picture.

He scoffed, And dipped his paintbrush in purple, the color blooming all over his body, and began to paint.

The paint came alive in his hand, becoming not a color to spread but a story waiting to be told. He swiped the paint on the canvas this way and that. Changing colors more then once to show the exploding bruise tones he wished to convey. His arm worked tirelessly and the small part of his mind that wasn't focused on the brush wondered when the last time he had been this inspired was. Green blended neatly into the blues and purples as he slowed, and stopped.

Dipping a much smaller paintbrush into the crimson, he slowly and carefully added red 'U's into the top corners. He dipped his brush swiftly into the darkest violet, shading what looked like muscles into the painting, adding a few lines to indicate an edge. He again dunked his small brush in red to add a few more lines to his piece and then he proceeded to paint anything that had not been covered in a yellow so brown it looked somber.

He scribbled his signature in the corner and stood back in satisfaction, then concern. He added a few more highlights and stepped back again. Now believing he was as finished as he could be. He grinned, it was Jerome but in the style of Turner. Perfect.

The teacher, Mrs. Livie, came behind him and whispered, "What will you call it?"

Jerome hesitated before answering, "My Torso."


	9. The Back Of the School

**My chapters are getting pretty short, sorry but I like them at this length. Keep reviewing, keep reading. So I wanted to say something about favorites and reviews. The fact that people put my stuff on their favorites list is an honor. It really is. But I don't really pay attention to them, as an author and just as a person it's a lot better to get reviews and constructive criticism or even just a review that says hi, because it's more tangible. It feels like the person really read the story. Just a thought.**

**Another thing, if you are reading this from a country that is not U.S.A you HAVE to review, YOU JUST HAVE TOO. PLLEEEEAAAASSSSSEE it would be so awesome! I don't care if you're from Canada or Pakistan, please review and tell me your country. YAY FORIEGNISM! (Hey look at that, Word recognizes that as a word…)**

**Disclaimer: Too lazy and too annoyed to do a proper disclaimer. I don't own this.**

"My torso," he whispered, and began to clean up his area. Wiping the table clean and putting his easel away. Mrs. Livie looked at him pensively for a moment and told him to get to his next class. Then she took the painting and put it in the pile of paintings she was actually considering for entry.

"Amber do you know something that I don't?" Mara nearly shouted on her walk to school with her friend. The whole time they had walked Amber had hinted that she knew what Jerome was talking about with the backwards hint.

"Mara, I'm surprised that you didn't figure it out. It's not that complicated." She smiled, knowing that she had got to Mara.

"Agh! How can you figure something like that out! And not me!" Mara shouted between laughs. They collapsed on the grass, both laughing for a different reason.

"Okay, trust me Mara, if you don't figure it out soon. It'll come out anyway." Amber gasped.

"I just know he's really hurt. And I want to help… A lot. But I don't think he wants me too." Mara looked at the ground sadly. Amber paused and said,

"He has a reason for what he's doing Mara, and what you're doing with the chocolate and believing him and, just being you is helping," Amber smiled wickedly and said "Besides, I think he wants you for a completely different reason…" She raised her eyebrows suggestively. Mara blushed and laughed,

"Yeah right, c'mon were going to be late."

Jerome was late. And he was behind the school. No one was around except for Mick and his football cronies. This was just a really bad day for Jerome. Mick jogged up to him.

"Well if it isn't little Jerome? Time for payback!" Jerome looked at him skeptically.

"For what?" he asked innocently. Mick grabbed him by his shirt collar and pushed him against the wall.

"For making me look weak!" Jerome nodded,

"Fair enough, let's get on with it then." Mick smiled and punched him in the stomach. The beating began.

Alfie was also late. He decided to take a short cut behind the school. And what he saw made him extremely angry. And irrational. And he did something very noble, and very very stupid.


	10. Winners and Wellbeing

**A/N at the bottom of the story today, it felt better there.**

**Disclaimer: afjlskdgiowh blah blah, this is making me depressed. I don't own this show, any of the rights to it, I don't own Turner or Franz Marc. I don't own bandages.**

* * *

He ran to the mob and pushed some people aside, there lay Jerome, tortured eyes alight with anger at Alfie's presence. Alfie threw his fist into Mick's face. And Mick turned, caught Alfie's shoulder and rammed him into the wall dislocating his other shoulder in the process. Suddenly Jerome was behind Mick with two fingers on a pressure point.

"Easy…" Mick let out a noise like a strangled goat and let go of Alfie. Jerome looked at Mick disgustedly.

"You know, Alfie has been my best mate since seventh year. I care about his well-being a lot more than you'd think, you just crossed a line Mick. A line you really, really shouldn't have. Get to class." He enunciated in his ear, and Mick and the rest of his friends took off running.

"Thanks Mate," Alfie murmured.

"Get up." Jerome snapped, "Let's get back home and patch ourselves up a bit." Alfie nodded, and he realized that Jerome was the only person he had ever met who called their boarding house "home"

* * *

Mrs. Livie and Mr. Sweet sat together arguing. They had narrowed down the winner of the art contest to two paintings, one by Nina, a beautiful picture inspired by Franz Marc, And Jerome's picture.

"Jerome's is too dramatic and depressing, it'll cause an argument in the student body." Mr. Sweet said.

"Jerome's picture is beautiful and deserves to have recognition and furthermore, the point of art is to cause controversy and make you think!" Mrs. Livie retorted.

"Nina's piece is beautiful and complex, no one will truly understand it. I don't even understand it!" Mr. Sweet said hotly.

"It's a portrait of a woman named Sarah," Mrs. Livie said simply.

"What?" All the pieces fit together in Mr. Sweet's mind; the lines, the colors. And he saw with fear that after Nina's name she had inscribed a small eye of horus.

" Alright Jerome's the winner!" He said hurriedly, "We announce it on Friday! I have something urgent to attend too, Catherine, and I must be going!" Mrs. Livie waved, befuddled, at Mr. Sweet's retreating figure. But she shrugged her shoulders and put the ribbon on Jerome's piece. She smiled.

* * *

Jerome bandaged Alfie's shoulder quickly and quietly. Alfie opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Jerome.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID! How could you risk your neck like that? It's my problem Alfie, it's my fight! And you got hurt and it's all because of me!" Jerome paused and panted after his outburst.

"You know, you've been my best mate since seventh grade. And I care a lot more about your well-being than you may think." Alfie said steadily. Jerome looked at him for a long time. And then suddenly, tears came out of his eyes. And the fortress collapsed, showing Alfie what he had seen all along and others had been to ignorant too notice. Jerome was hurt. Jerome had been hurt for so long and so badly that crying caused him pain.

* * *

**Whoa, that chapter had real emotions in it. Weird. So, some people were confused as to why I wanted them to put their country in the reviews, I don't really know, maybe it's just that I really think that other places are interesting. Maybe it's because I can then say " I have someone who reads my story from..." I mean that's a pretty awesome thing for me to say. But also, I'm just kind of curious and stuff, so yeah. Review!**

**More JARA and AMFIE in the next chapter. Two couples that don't get enough credit.**


	11. Poetry and Stage Fright

**Again A/N at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: in this chapter there are a lot of things I don't own, I don't own poetry, I don't own 'Golden" By FOB, and I don't own "Trapeze" or "Don't Kick The Chair" By Dia Frampton. I don't own John Green's happy dance, (You tube it if you want to know exactly what it looks like, then pee your pants laughing at the mental image of Eugene Simon doing it)**

* * *

It was English class. Ms. Roberts wanted the entire class to write a poem, and while Jerome was normally pretty good at poetry he wasn't inspired at all. He stared at the Word screen in disgust, willing his fingers to type. And then he was struck by a certain idea. The best idea ever because not only would it minimize his effort, but it would be really cool and deep and no one would truly understand. He typed madly a poem he had already written, Years ago when he didn't have Alfie and Mara hadn't talked to him and, and, and, just all sorts of bad things were happening to him.

He typed madly, if you hadn't already realized, Jerome was one of those people who just was creative. He just was. It was the way he was born, he could draw awesomely and write beautifully dark poetry. The only creative awesome that he was missing was the music gene, he couldn't hold a note to save his life. But that didn't really matter.

* * *

Mara was having a hard time in English as well—If you're wondering why Mara and Jerome were in the same honors English class…Well Mara didn't really know either—But either way, she wanted it to be helpful and nice. Because she was helpful and nice. That was just the way she was. So she started a poem that was kind of like a song.

Mara was somewhat like Jerome in her creative awesomeness, She couldn't paint if her life depended on it but her voice was beautiful and she played the piano. Unlike Jerome however, she got less joy from her creativeness and more joy from her academic achievements.

Ms. Roberts called all the students up to the front of the class and read their poem. If they had stage fright, wouldn't, or couldn't perform their poem she said that she would read it for them (the only time that this was necessary was with Harry Miche, a kid who didn't talk and was rumored to have been born without vocal chords) Jerome was called up and he stared everyone down like he would kill them all if they laughed. Which they wouldn't because they all believed that Jerome was a bully. He began

"Tongues on the sockets of electric dreams  
Where the sewage of youth drowned the spark of my teens  
And I knew that the lights of the city were too heavy for me  
And though I carry karats for everyone to see

And I saw God cry in the reflection of my enemies  
And all the lovers with no time for me  
And all of the mothers raise their babies  
To stay away from me  
And pray they don't grow up to be" He finished.

The poem was two stanzas, half a page. This was an honors English class, a room full of over achievers, to put it simply, the poem blew their minds. Ms. Roberts nodded slowly  
and motioned for him to sit.

A few more people went up b

* * *

efore Mara's turn, Mara had incredible stage fright and Ms. Roberts thought that she would just give her the poem for Ms. Roberts to read, but when she held out her hand for the paper Mara shook her head, she stared out at the audience in fear. She knew that this was a message that she needed to deliver herself. She began:

"I'll never tell you what I saw  
Or how it made me breathe.  
I'll never repeat what I heard  
How long it took me to leave.  
I'll never tell you what I saw  
Or how it made my smile freeze  
Cause this world is a whirlwind, but I'm holding that trapeze  
And I'll never tell you what I saw

There are lonely nights when you see no hope

And you're feeling short of breath

Like the whole damn wold is a braided rope

In a noose around your neck

But if I could tell you one thing,

I would tell you I'm not leaving

If I could show you one thing

All my mistakes have shaped me

Into who I am,

And who I am just wants to make you home" She looked up at the class and froze in fear. She began to shake and felt nausious. "Ha-ha…" she looked petrified. Jerome shook himself, stood up, walked to the back of the class and stood at the back wall, his motions showed that he wanted her to look his way. She took a big breath and focused on him. Jerome started to do the John Green happy dance. She smiled, and began again,

"Have you ever felt like everybody's watching

Waiting for you to lose

Have you ever felt like you're living in a spot light

Seaarching for the real you

Tell me have you ever woken up

Just to wish you could close your eyes

Getting hard to find a friend in a place like this

Where you can't even trust a smile." She looked up from her paper again and saw Jerome, still doing the happy dance.

But if I could tell you one thing,

I would tell you I'm not leaving

If I could show you one thing

All my mistakes have shaped me

Into who I am,

And who I am just wants to make you home" she finished. And Jerome stopped dancing and panted in the background of the applauding audience.

* * *

**Author's note: I mean no offence to honors english classes, I'm sure some of you are over-acheivers, some of you may just be good at english, some people are just there for your own reasons, so no offense.**

**Also, I have gotten reviews from—so far—England, Peru, Australia, and somewhere else. I think.**

**I would also like to say that I have been watching a lot of Alex Day, which lead me to watching a ton of vlogbros, which makes me over use the word awesome and changes my writing style a bit and makes me type so fast that my fingers twitch when I am not typing.**

**Now, I'm sure that some of you are saying, You shouldn't give Jerome and Mara that much collective creative awesome, it's not realistic. I based both of their creative awesome on this girl I know who was not really my friend but I really wanted her to be, she could draw like a freaking maniac, wrote beautiful poetry and prose, and played like five instruments and could sing. Plus she made good grades, this proves that you can have that much awesome.**

**Review!**

**Oh, I also wanted to say that a lot have people have thanked me for updating regularly, it's just for this week because all of my friends are in school and I'm not. Also, Amfie in the next chapter and this might finish up soon after which my goal will be to write a multichap Jara fanfic that is not based on Mick being a jerkface. Super run-on sentence there.**

**Look at the long chapter and if you read this entire long A/N put the word Poppel in your comment, IT'S A REAL WORD, LOOK IT UP!**


	12. JARA and Amfie

**Disclaimer: I am not creative in my Disclaimer writing! I used to be really good at it and now my mind is blank. I don't own this and I wish I could think of a way to say this that isn't so depressing, but I can't. So this is it.**

* * *

They exited the room quietly, Mara leaned against the side of the door frame as she waited for Jerome to pass so that she could get his attention. When he did, she tapped him lightly on his shoulder and he turned, grabbed her arm and pulled her away and outside. He hugged her so tightly that she felt like her ribs were breaking.

"You looked so scared, I've never seen you look like that. I can't believe you went up there and did it, with your stage-fright and all." He whispered hurriedly. He kissed her hair but she couldn't tell.

"It was probably the scariest thing I've ever done. But I had to tell you myself." She smiled at his confusion.

"Tell me?" he questioned.

"Who did you think it was for, dancer boy? I don't know what's going on, but I'm here!" She looked so upset that Jerome had to say something.

" I did tell you, you just won't believe it, I know you figured it out." He whispered. Her phone rang with the ring-tone of Losing My Religion by REM, she hesitated, looking at her phone screen.

"Gotta take that?" Jerome smiled and nodded gently. He walked away smiling.

* * *

AMFIE TIME!

Life is like a box of chocolates, it was an American saying, and even when Amber asked Nina, Nina didn't really know. There was probably a second part of the saying that explained what it meant, but no American that Amber had ever met could explain it to her. Amber didn't really know why this saying popped into her head when Alfie walked in to class with a black eye, because in her mind life was more like a ton of bricks, waiting to fall on your head at the proper moment.

Some people called Amber a ditz, she certainly lacked in the critical thinking department, but she made up for it in empathy. This was precisely why she was one of those popular kids that everyone liked in their own way. So when Alfie walked into the class, she felt like she'd been punched in the face, and when she saw the bandage on his shoulder peek out from under his sleeve she felt pain.

At the end of the class she grabbed his arm and pulled him gently outside for lunch to eat with her.

"Amber, what? Amber? AMBER!?" Alfie screamed. Amber turned,

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Where are we going? Why are you taking me there?" He asked. Amber looked as if she was in intense pain.

"I don't know Alfie, I didn't think that far ahead…" She grinned sheepishly, " Walk with me? Please?" Alfie's eyes widened but he nodded happily. They walked for a long time, Alfie suddenly deciding that what he hadn't seen Amber do for a long time was laugh. Laugh like she didn't have a care in the world, and Alfie was good at making people laugh.

"Amber, does your father…expect much from you?" Alfie asked.

"Not like your parents do. I suppose he expects me to be me. He used to try, and I tried to be what he wanted, but after a while I didn't care enough. He wasn't exactly going to disown me."

"True enough. But you don't seem to try to do much anymore…"

"Oh really?" She taunted.

"Yeah, really. Do something amazing for me. Right now!" He challenged playfully.

"Fine!" She slipped off her shoes and lifted herself onto her toes, like a ballerina without pointe shoes. She held it for a minute and then collapsed on the muddy ground, splashing Alfie and getting mud on her uniform. She laughed at his startled expression. He made a duck face and she laughed harder, he continued to make funny faces until it seemed like Amber was crying from laughter. He helped her up and they walked more. Interweaving serious comments, hilarious jokes and funny faces.

"Wait a second, you have mud on your uniform!" Alfie realized.

"Yeah…What's your point?" Amber asked.

"Well, you… love clothes and you would freak out, and you should be…" He ended hopelessly

"Well you know, I used to care, but this is really fun and if I complained then it would be over. And then after a while I just stopped caring, I mean you didn't notice until now." She smiled happily. "But I think we should get back to the house, if you've noticed, we've now missed all our classes." He grinned

"Hey Amber," he hesitated.

"Yeah?" She turned to him.

"Can I hug you?" She looked a bit confused but nodded. They hugged and in the middle of that hug, he whispered,

"This doesn't happen to you that often, I can tell." To which she replied,

"No it doesn't, thank you so much Alfie."

* * *

**Woah, again with the real emotions leaking into my writing. So, A few thank-you's to awesome reviewers. First a person called true grimm, commented on every chapter not as the story was going but yesterday. So I think they deserve digital applause. Also someone who signed their review with I3Cabitha, that made me so happy, but it also reminded me that FF doesn't allow the greater than and less than symbols that are so integral to important emoticons! So that's the chapter, I'll keep trying to update but I think that the story is going to wrap up kind of soon.**

**Oh, another awesome JARA writer who reviewed a lot is JustKeepTyping, I have read her stories and they are awesome and you should check those out. But just as a general thing if you're bored I would suggest that you go through the reviews and look at stories that people who like the same stories as you are writing, chances are that their stories will be awesome.**


	13. Speaking and Anger

**Disclaimer: Season three is coming soon and then Studio 100 will have every chance to assert their ownership of this show, until then I have the unpleasant task of declaring the fact that this isn't mine. Maybe it's a good thing you can't see me right now because I am a GIANT SQUID OF ANGER!**

* * *

Assembly. It was something that every student dreaded not only for the omnipotent boredom to come, but also because everyone has their own dirty little secrets that their teachers tended to announce in these gatherings.

Three easels stood ominously on the drama room stage. Everyone crowded into the room, dreading and anticipating eagerly. Winning, for everyone, would be a bittersweet victory. Mr. Sweet stood at the microphone stand, patient. He started with a phrase in Latin, which all had learned to ignore. Then a quote in English,

"Art picks up where nature left off." An interesting quote, certainly, but not what they wanted to hear. "And now for third place, Mila Simon with "The Cockroaches in the Rainbow!" A flamboyant brunette pranced to the stage, happy for her dimmed spotlight.

"In second place… We have Harry Miche with 'Things I Can't Speak Of'?" Mr. Sweet announced, confused as he whipped off the sheet on the canvas to reveal a piece that even he was unfamiliar with. A picture in wavering shades of blue, a likeness too a small boy watching from his bed, a border of recognizable teenagers fighting. A guitar lay in the background. Harry smiled as he walked too the stage, he smiled at the awe of the audience. Laughed silently at their shock. He smiled because he had something to say, and he had said it, this school had some violent secrets.

Mr. Sweet sent a withering glare towards Mrs. Livie, it could not be clearer that her time at the school was drawing to a close. But he carried on with his announcements, "And the winner is… Melody Crabshaw!" Mrs. Livie looked shell-shocked as Melody, a small, mousy, freshman with a landscape of a few mountains and some sheep ran up to the stage. There was nothing wrong with mountains and sheep, but it wasn't an important painting, it had little too say.

Harry Miche was a little confused as well, Melody had her painting in her hands as she walked up to the stage, everyone else's was handed to them. Which rendered the question… What painting stood in the third easel? The curiosity nearly overwhelmed Harry. He ran to the easel and ripped the cloth off it, and saw a painting that had a message. He saw something that someone else had used in the same way to say what they couldn't speak of. Hot rage filled his body as he recognized the signature, his mind vividly recalled a memory in garish detail.

Jerome sitting helplessly on the ground, bruises coating his arms while a blonde teenager kicked his chest. The same who had hit Harry until seventh year, when his anger had suddenly changed direction too another target, though the same in many respects. Neither would ever tell. Neither would speak of this. And as Harry turned away to take the image from his eyes, blue spheres in the face of a target found the face of another, the corners of his eyes crinkled and the corners of pink lips curled up in a terrible and sad smile. He quietly raised a finger to his lips as he recognized the person he was looking at. Shh… he whispered.

Harry took the ribbon off his painting and walked purposefully to Jerome. He grabbed his arm and led him to the stage, where Harry's clear voice rang out.

"May I present the true winner of this competition, Jerome Clarke with 'My Torso'"Shoving the painting with the ribbon into Jerome's clammy, nervous hands. Mick and Mr. Sweet's faces purpled.

* * *

**A/N, In this I reference importance of certain artworks over others. It's just my personal opinion that if you're going to be a real artist, you have to have something to say. Sorry to those who don't. Also, I introduced some OC's in this chapter, Harry is the only important one, and I'm sure that you recognized him from the past chapter as "the kid who didn't talk."**

**In other news, I'll try to upload again this weekend but this week you are going to have to live without an update for…reasons. Also, this is drawing to a close pretty soon so I'm working on the big finale! Yeah, Review please?**


	14. Fights And Then She Kissed Me

**Another chapter FINALLY! There'll be one or two more I think… Anyway I think that this is really cool with some background music, I thought "You're Going Down" Acoustic version by Sick Puppies was good… It's a bit long but it definitely fits.**

**Disclaimer: Life is hard and stressful, I don't have time to own, produce, or franchise a TV show!**

* * *

Jerome's clammy hands grasped the painting as he stared at Harry in astonishment. Did Harry have any idea what he had just done? What he had just _said _? Jerome saw Mick's eyebrows come together in what would have been comical anger, had it not been so frightening. Harry clasped his own painting in his sweaty palms as well and looked at Jerome expectantly, an exclamation, anger, hatred, these were perfect examples of what Harry wanted to see in the older boy's eyes, what he really saw was fear; petrifying, paralyzing fear. But more than that was sadness, pity, Jerome looked like he wanted to apologize for what had happened, and the unknown event that would inevitably happen in the near future. And there was resolve in his expression as well, something would be done, and no one was going to be particularly happy about it.

Mr. Sweet stared at Harry and Jerome for a minute, "Detention for both of you. But congratulations all medallists!" He directed the second sentence towards the audience, to Jerome and Harry he hissed, "Tomorrow, my office!" Jerome looked relieved, it could have been a lot worse than detention.

Jerome and the other finalists pulled their paintings off the stage and brought them back to their respective houses. Jerome's face was set and expressionless. He put his painting up in his room and walked back to school slowly, the rest of the house followed at a safe distance, Jerome looked like the criminal about to face the gallows pole.

And it seems to me that the gallows pole was not a good reference, for a stocky blonde sixteen year old waited at the parking lot, and that stocky blonde was anxiously waiting for a victory that he could not have without a high price.

* * *

"Hey Jerome! What was that pretty picture about huh?" Mick grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against a car. Jerome didn't react.

"Huh Jerome? I couldn't hear you?" Mick spit as he spoke, Jerome noted silently. He made no move to fight back, simply staring into Mick's eyes intently. Mick's eyes hardened as Jerome did nothing, his fist came flying through the air towards Jerome. He didn't move, he didn't dodge, he didn't hit back. The pale fist struck Jerome's cheek, probably knocking a few teeth lose. Jerome crumpled in a heap.

Blue eyes met blue eyes as Jerome's teary eyes searched Mick's, "I never hit you. I never touched you, yet you continue to take every opportunity to hurt me? Why Mick why? We were friends once." He struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on the car door behind him for support. "Then you go after the people I love? There was no need to hit Alfie, and you had to toy with Mara's feelings too?" The people who had encircled them gasped, and Jerome looked at them, silently laughing at their stupidity. " How about Harry? Do they know what happened to Harry? How you tortured him to silence?" Jerome put his hand on Mick's shoulder, "And they believed that I was the bully! For ages they were wary of me, and just this year they got proof! A blurry picture of the bruises on my arm, a few choice words in a gossip column! Suddenly it all makes sense!" He mocked. " I never hit you Mick," His voice suddenly serious, " I owe you, I owe you for stopping my sister from getting run over, and I'm about to pay you back, because you need to learn something, _I always pay my debts."_

He grabbed Mick and kneed him in the gut, he used the momentum to flip him so that he landed on the floor, but he held Mick's arm so that he didn't get a concussion. Jerome raised his foot to stomp on Mick's chest but stopped midair. He hissed,

"For Poppy!" Then he spat in Mick's fear-covered face,

* * *

Alfie

Jerome came over to where Amber and I were standing and silently grabbed our shoulders, pushing us together so that our noses touched and he said quietly,

"Well, all I have to lose is my reputation!" and he pushed our heads as close together as he could manage, and, seeing our lack of cooperation leaned over and whispered something in Amber's ear.

Then she kissed me.

* * *

**And now a taste of what's to come: Mara POV and an awesome JARA moment, wrapping up the Amfie dilemma, Mick lessening his involvement and some apologies.**

**R&R if you want another chapter!**

**JK, I'll post either way, but reviews are REALLY NICE to get.**

**So when you read the title did you think it would be a JARA kiss? Haha fooled you, I'm a submarine! Don't worry though, stuff happens…**


	15. Properly

**Disclaimer: I don't own this show.**

Alfie and Amber:

Alfie POV

She kissed me and it was… so different than what I expected. She was so popular, and everyone wanted to be her boyfriend, so naturally I thought it was going to be wild and crazy and like nothing that I had ever experienced. Well it wasn't anything that I had ever experienced, but it was honest and lovely and sweet. There wasn't anything crazy about it. It was however, the best thing that ever happened to me! You know when you use a PC for years and all your friends are like MAC! It's the best thing ever! But they can't articulate why? But they say, once you use a Mac and get used to it. You just know? It was a lot like that. I can't say what exactly made it the best thing that ever happened to me. It just was.

She pulled away very quickly and bit her lip. I had never seen her look so shy. She was so confident most of the time. I had seen her sad, and I had seen her scared. But shy was a new thing.

"Alfie, why are you making that face? What is it?"

"Amber, have you broken up with Mick like, properly?" She looked at Mick, who lay on the floor writhing in pain.

"Hey Mick," She waited until he grunted in response, " I'm breaking up with you!"

"Okay then! No offense but I have bigger issues right now." He said as he saw Mr. Sweet and Victor approaching.

" Aright then, Amber" Alfie smiled "Will you go to dinner with me on Friday?"

"Alright." And we walked away. I wondered briefly if Jerome would be alright but on my way out of the building I saw him and Mara kissing the life out of each other. Yeah, he seemed fine. But then a thought struck me,

"What did Jerome tell you?" She smiled.

"He said if I let my pride get in the way, I'd end up like he did, too late, and that if I did that, I might not get another chance."

**3 more reviews, PLEASE**

**-Cabitha**


	16. Deny Me This

**Warning: Contains very mild language**

**Disclaimer: SCHOOL IS STRESSFUL AND I AM NOT SLEEPING ENOUGH, I DON'T OWN IT.**

Jerome stalked away, his shirt torn and his face steadily purpling. His uniform shoes clicked against the pavement, his normally perfect hair mussed and wild. And it was kind of hot. At least that's what Mara thought as she walked speedily in his direction. Jerome stopped and waited for her at in the middle of the sidewalk. When she was about to tap his shoulder he whirled around and the manic look in his eyes nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Come to congratulate me?!" he screamed crazily. Mara looked at him, she looked hard. She saw such tremendous guilt in his face, and relief, and tremendous guilt for the relief. Overall she saw confusion, and joy. Joyful Confusion.

"I don't really know why I came, but it sure as hell wasn't to congratulate you." She started calmly. " I think you need a moment to recapture your sanity so I'll keep talking. That was brave, and somewhat stupid, but brave. And I know what you're worried about, did you become the bully when you hit back? The answer is no Jerome." Jerome's breathing had become steady again and he had calmed a bit.

"But I hit him. Mara, what's going to happen now?" he worried.

"You gave him exactly what he deserved, no more, no less. I don't know what's going to happen now, but it'll be better than what it was before. That is for sure." He smiled at her. Then she slapped him across the un-bruised cheek.

"Ow! Jesus, Mara what was that for!" He screamed.

"How could you not tell me! You bloody idiot, you could have just told me why you always needed chocolate!"

"No I couldn't have Mara, you know exactly why I couldn't." Mara looked at the ground.

"Yeah, I do. But you couldn't have told me that Mick was a jerk?" She murmured.

"No, I could have told you that…but then…" Mara looked up at him.

"But then what?" She was so close he could count her eyelashes. He looked torn for a minute until he said, "Oh to hell with it!" He put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her face even closer to his.

"But then you would have said that I was jealous. And then you would have figured out the truth. That I just really, really like you and that I could deny you nothing and that, and that—" He had began to repeat himself though he seemed almost angry. She pulled away slightly and he dropped his hands, ashamed.

"Why didn't you tell me later, about Mick?" Mara asked awkwardly.

"I did, you refused to believe it, you refused to believe anything bad about your precious Mick!" The venom in his voice was palpable. He shook his head angrily and walked away.

"Jerome!" She called "Do you really mean it when you said that you can deny me nothing?" from fifteen feet away she could see him nod.

"Then get your ass over here and kiss me!" He walked back as fast as his injured body would allow, reaching her, he grinned and put both hands on either sides of her face again.

"You know when I said I like you? I was lying."

And then he kissed her

**Allow me to whine for a second, you can skip this if you want. My science teacher said hey, write an essay based on this evidence that doesn't exist and follows this impossible format, due tomorrow. Next day, great job, now write another one, and don't forget to do that English essay for Friday! FML.**

**So anyway, look! A new chapter! Sorry it took so long, school is hard. I think one or two more chappies? Please Review, I checked the review thing and it said I had 97 REVIEWS! ninety-seven frackin' reviews! That's the most awesome thing ever! Can we make that 100? At some point? Because, you know, that's nice number…**

**R&R**

**-Cabitha**

**P.S. Three more reviews guys! PLEASE.**

**P.P.S. Oh, and yes this fic is over.**


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